CAIRO, Feb. 23 (UPI) — The Muslim Brotherhood announced that it was in preparations to form a political party in Egypt dubbed the Freedom and Justice Party.

Ruling military authorities in Egypt dismantled much of the previous structure of the regime of Hosni Mubarak, pledging to move forward with plans to have national elections within six months.

The Muslim Brotherhood was banned during the Mubarak era from competing openly as a political party. Its candidates won 20 percent of the seats in the Egyptian Parliament by running as independent candidates in 2005. Mubarak’s ruling National Democracy Party last year, however, wiped the group off the political map in elections widely criticized by the international community.

Muslim Brotherhood Chairman Mohamed Badie said membership in the Freedom and Justice Party would be open to all Egyptians who are ready to accept its policies, the group said through its official Ikhwanweb site. The group ran last year under the slogan “Islam is the Solution.”

The Muslim Brotherhood added that it wasn’t opposed to women or members of minority religious groups serving in Cabinet positions but ruled out their role as head of state.

The group had said it has no intention of fielding a candidate for president of Egypt in this year’s elections.